Tottenham Transfer News: Spurs Confirm Paulinho Signing

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the signing of Brazil and Corinthians midfielder Paulinho.

The 24 year old joined the north London outfit for a fee understood to be just shy of £17m, making him the club's second most expensive signing ever, after David Bentley (£15m + £2m add-ons)

"We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for the transfer of Paulinho from Corinthians after the Brazil international successfully completed his medical," reads a club statement.

Paulinho arrived in London on Thursday and met Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas and chairman Daniel Levy before completing his medical and penning a contract at White Hart Lane.

"First, I want to thank Tottenham for believing in me. I am very happy and excited to have joined Spurs. It's a huge pleasure for my career to be at a club as big as Tottenham. I know it will be a huge challenge but I think I can help all my colleagues to succeed and give a lot of happiness to the supporters," Paulinho said.

"The Training Centre is amazing and I'm very impressed about the conditions Tottenham offers to the players. I will focus on my job and use the facility as much as possible. We used to watch the Premier League in Brazil - including Tottenham - and this club has big players. I just want to help them to succeed here. It's nice to have another Brazilian in the squad and I'm excited to meet with Sandro and all the players," the player added.

Paulinho has made 167 appearances for Corinthians, scoring 34 times. He featured in the club's win over Chelsea in the Club World Cup final back in December. The midfielder also has 17 senior international caps to his name and was one of the standout performers in Brazil's Confederations Cup triumph last month.